Iga Swiatek reflects on ‘demanding’ season: ‘The pressure related to the No. 1 spot was a bit overwhelming

The Pole lost her grip on the No. 1 ranking following a shock fourth round exit at the US Open, which allowed Aryna Sabalenka to claim the top spot for the first time in her career.

However, after winning the China Open and the WTA Finals in Cancun, Swiatek was able to reclaim the No. 1 ranking once more.

“It was certainly a demanding season that taught me a lot and which makes me even more proud,’’ Swiatek told Eurosport Poland.

‘’This year-end result exceeded all my expectations.

“The fact that I came back to No. 1 and that it happened in Cancun with all the pressure and strange circumstances.’’

Sabalenka’s defeat to Swiatek in the WTA Finals cost her the opportunity to end the year as the world No. 1, something which the Pole believes her rival ‘deserved’.

“She deserved it,” Swiatek said.

“She had a great season. She won a Grand Slam, was in the final of another Grand Slam and in two semi-finals, so it was an amazing season.

“I just preferred to focus on other things, because the pressure related to the No. 1 spot was a bit overwhelming in the middle of the season.

“For this reason, I didn’t play very freely until the US Open, and then I knew that I just had to change this attitude and approach the next tournaments differently, just be a different player who didn’t focus on all that things.

‘’Although I always try to do it, but it doesn’t always work out.’’

With a busy 2024 schedule looming thanks to an increase in 1000 level tournaments and the Paris Olympics being packed in between Wimbledon and the US Open, Swiatek believes more needs to be done to preserve players’ mental and physical health.

‘’The calendar is changing towards even more duties, even greater expenditure of energy that we will have to devote while participating in tournaments, because the tournaments are also extended,” she said.

“It is simply not conducive to what the WTA promotes in other aspects, i.e. mental health, life balance in any way, physical health.

“I would make decisions that would be more conducive to what they promote and support.’’